Keeping Plants and Pets Safe When Arctic Blast Hits South Plains

With even colder weather expected to hit the South Plains for the end of the work week, you want to make sure you’re doing everything you can to be prepared. That includes paying extra attention to the Three P’s: pets, plants, and pipes.

If you haven’t done so already, bring those small plants inside and make sure they are placed in an area where they can receive light.

“Depending on the vegetable…if it’s a warm season vegetable, they’re very sensitive to cold temperatures. Even a light freeze at 31 or 32 degrees is going to cause them damage,” says Russ Wallace, with the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension. 

Wallace has kept plants uncovered in the past, and he ended up losing them. That it why he’s now experimenting with growing strawberries in both low and high tunnels, hoping it will benefit his crop this year.

“The benefits of covering the plants is to keep the frost and freezing temperatures off the leaves themselves. If the frost and heavy ice forms on the leaves, that may cause leaf cells to burst causing damage to the leaf and then overall death of the plant,” he says.

If you have plants at home, Wallace says to get your warm season vegetables like tomatoes out of the garden.

“Lettuce, spinach, kale…some of those can tolerate these cooler temperatures. I would still cover them with some row cover or some freeze protection or even a blanket or whatever you have around the house,” Wallace says. 

And when it comes to pets, they should be kept indoors. If they are prefer it outdoors, just make sure to pay extra close attention to them.

“If you’re cold, your dogs are probably cold. Make sure they have a shelter outside that has something they can cuddle up in…either straw, wood shavings, or an old blanket…just something like that that they can cuddle up in for warmth,” says Kia Riemath, Assistant Director at Lubbock Animal Services.

“Also, make sure they have fresh water. Make sure it hasn’t frozen over, because even frozen, they don’t have access to it. They can lick the ice, but it doesn’t give them the nourishment they need,” she adds.